Canton selectmen skeptical about South Coast railway plan

Thursday

With two of six possible alternatives heading through Canton, officials wonder what the South Coast railway’s impact could be on the town.

With two of six possible alternatives heading through Canton, officials wonder what the South Coast railway’s impact could be on the town.

Kristina Egan, project manager for the proposed railway, appeared before Selectmen Tuesday, May 27 to present some of the alternative pathways being contemplated for extending commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford.

The “Stoughton corridor” and “Attleboro corridor” would pass through Canton and would likely have a number of significant traffic and environmental impacts. It was unclear from Egan’s presentation what role, if any, the various towns affected by the proposed extension would play in the Executive Office of Transportation’s decision-making process.

“The final alternative will be the ‘least environmentally damaging practicable alternative,’ – this is the only route that will get permitted under the Clean Water Act,” Egan said.

Selectman Gerald Salvatori asked whether it would be possible to run the new commuter rail along routes 128 and 495.

“Wouldn’t it make some sense, instead of trying to cross areas that are now undeveloped, to use areas that are currently part of the highway system?” he said.

Egan said running the commuter rail along Route 24 had been considered, but was rejected as unfeasible.

“It’s not what we call practicable … mainly because the median size varies, so we would have to run it on the side of the road, and there are 20 interchanges that would have to be rebuilt,” she said.

“We received a note from someone who does not support the Attleboro proposal, and we received notes from other people who are apparently not supportive of the Stoughton proposal, and one common theme I must unfortunately say is that in either event Canton gets harmed,” Del Vecchio said. “Right now I can’t think that the Town of Canton is all that sympathetic to the Executive Office of Transportation or the Governor’s office given the lack of support we received in connection with the Westwood Station project.”

Del Vecchio questioned Egan about the prospect of land takings from Canton property owners.

“How much land taking is likely if you add another track on the Attleboro side? Have you done any preliminary analyses?” he asked.

Egan said it was too early in the process for her to speak to land takings, but promised to provide more information as the project moves forward.

Egan offered a preliminary estimate of additional rail traffic that might proceed from adoption of the Stoughton or Attleboro alternatives.

“Although the service plan could change, the baseline comparison we’re using is six trains during the peak period, which is two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening when you would see the most impact,” she said. “There will be other trains during the day but they’ll be spaced out a lot more.”

Del Vecchio brought up the troublesome incident of the runaway freight car that had crashed into a commuter train in March (Del Vecchio himself sustained minor injuries in the accident).

“To the best of my knowledge we have still not gotten any explanation from the state or federal agencies as to exactly what happened or why it happened, and whether or not the gates had any useful impact or not,” Del Vecchio said. “Why in the world would Canton ever agree, to the extent that we have any influence on the process—which I’m not necessarily saying we do — to have further trains, since there’s no effective way of preventing rogue trains, not to mention the issue of traffic?”

Egan acknowledged the legitimacy of Del Vecchio’s concerns, but noted since she was not part of the investigation, she could not provide any definitive answers.

Selectman Avril Elkort said the state should give ample consideration to the “Middleborough” alternative, which would impact Canton minimally, while still allowing connection to Boston for south coast cities.

“To me the Middleborough route would be the best, given the Wampanoags’ plans for a casino there,” Elkort said. “I think it could be an excellent place to achieve some smart growth, because you would have train service between Fall River and New Bedford and the casino, as well as Boston.”

Rep. William Galvin, D-Canton, appeared at the meeting “to listen,” and while he echoed some of the selectmen’s concerns, he was happy with the comprehensive review process undertaken by Egan and others.

“I must say, although I’m not happy with the Patrick administration about Westwood Station either, I must commend them on what they’ve done as far as looking at the rail alternatives,” Galvin said. “They took a fresh look at it … whereas the previous administration wanted to force the Stoughton corridor regardless of its impacts. Kristina has been very open, and I want to thank her for coming.”

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